Ongole : Gang of dacoits, including constable, arrested for looting jeweller

Ongole : The Prakasam district police successfully cracked a dacoity case within 48 hours of receiving complaint and arrested a seven-member gang, including a police constable and a village volunteer on Monday.

Speaking at a press meet, Superintendent of Police Malika Garg said that the Gudlur police received a complaint from Nichenametla Chiranjeevi, a jewellery shop owner in Nellore on last Friday night that he was robbed on NH 16 on Tuesday morning when he along with two others was going to Vijayawada in his car for purchase of gold ornaments.

He complained that three people, wearing khaki pants intercepted his vehicle, pulled the keys claiming they were police personnel. They told him that they had information that he was travelling with unaccounted money, but would let them go if he convinced their DSP by paying Rs 25 lakh.

When the complainant agreed to pay the money and opened the bag, the three people took the packet of Rs 50 lakh and threatened him at the knife point not to disclose the incident to anybody.

But after three days, he mustered courage and complained to the police about the incident.

The SP said that the Kandukur DSP formed three teams with SIs of Gudluru, Ulavapadu and PC Palli under the supervision of Kandukur CI. They gathered the physical and technical evidence along with the CC TV footage from the toll gates and arrested Thatha Nagaraju, Baddipudi Srinivasulu, Korivi Sudhakar, Burri Gopikrishna, Peddeti Subbarayudu, Dorababu Kalyan and Marella Naveen Prasad.

She explained that Srinivasulu is the driver of the complainant and Nagaraju is a habitual offender and mastermind behind the crime. They both belong to Indamadugur village of Kovur mandal in Nellore district and conspired with Sudhakar, who is a constable at Atluru police station in Kadapa district.

Sudhakar took the help of a village volunteer Gopikrishna and a social media journalist Subbarayudu from Atluru and engaged his other friends. The SP said that the conspirators reached Nellore early on Tuesday and followed the complainant with the direction from his driver Srinivasulu and executed the crime at Santhinagar flyover.

The SP appreciated the Kandukur DSP K Srinivasa Rao, Kandukur CI V Sriram, Gudluru SI K Mallikharjuna Rao, PC Palli SI Prem Kumar, Guduluru ASI Muralidhar for their efforts in cracking the case immediately and presented commendation certificates to them.